Joomla 4 End of Life: Why You Must Upgrade Now
Joomla 4 reached its official end of life on 14 October 2025. If your website still runs on Joomla 4, it is no longer receiving security patches from the Joomla Project. The window to upgrade safely is open — but it will not stay open indefinitely.
Unlike the Joomla 3 end of life, which caught many website owners unprepared, the Joomla 4 situation has a significant advantage: upgrading from Joomla 4 to Joomla 5 is the easiest migration path in the Joomla ecosystem.
What Has Changed Since October 2025
Since Joomla 4 reached end of life, security support has ended completely. Any vulnerability discovered in the Joomla codebase is patched in Joomla 5 and 6 only. The vulnerability details are published in the Joomla Security Centre — effectively creating a public roadmap for exploiting unpatched Joomla 4 installations.
Extension developers have shifted their primary focus to Joomla 5 and 6. While most Joomla 4 extensions continue to work, they are receiving less testing, fewer updates, and less attention. Some developers have already released their final Joomla 4 versions.
The Good News: Joomla 4 to 5 Is Simple
Joomla 4 and Joomla 5 share the same core architecture. Unlike the Joomla 3 to 4/5 migration — which required a complex, multi-step process with extension replacements and template rebuilds — the Joomla 4 to 5 upgrade uses the standard Joomla Update component. Your template will likely work. Most of your extensions will work. The upgrade process is measured in hours, not weeks.
However, "simple" does not mean "risk-free." Extensions can break if they relied on deprecated features. Custom code may need updating. Server requirements must be verified (Joomla 5 requires PHP 8.1+ and MySQL 8.0+). And your search rankings must be protected throughout the process.
Professional handling eliminates these risks. We test everything in a staging environment before touching your live site, and we include a 30-day post-upgrade warranty with every project.
Joomla 5 or Joomla 6?
When upgrading from Joomla 4, you can target either version:
Joomla 5 is the Long Term Support release — stable, proven, and with a mature extension ecosystem. This is the conservative, reliable choice. You can upgrade to Joomla 6 later at your own pace.
Joomla 6 is the current release — latest features, most modern codebase, longest runway before the next major upgrade. The path goes through Joomla 5.4 as a bridge. The Compatibility Plugin ensures most extensions work even before they receive native Joomla 6 updates.
We assess your specific extension configuration during our free audit and recommend the target version that best suits your installation.
Do Not Wait for a Problem to Force Your Hand
The Joomla 3 end of life taught us a lesson: many website owners waited until their sites were hacked, their hosting dropped PHP support, or Google flagged their site before taking action. Emergency migrations are always more expensive, more stressful, and more damaging than planned upgrades.
Joomla 4 to 5 is one of the fastest, lowest-risk upgrades available. Most projects start from €600 and are completed within one to two weeks. There is no good reason to delay.